Feb. 7, 2022—A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems practically made no difference in pedestrian crashes that occurred at night, Teslarati reported.
The study found that pedestrian crash rates of all severities were 27 percent lower when vehicles were equipped with AEB systems. Injury crash rates were 30 percent lower. However, the study also found that AEB systems made no difference in tests conducted in “unlighted areas.”
“This is the first real-world study of pedestrian AEB to cover a broad range of manufacturers, and it proves the technology is eliminating crashes,” says Jessica Cicchino, IIHS vice president of research. “Unfortunately, it also shows these systems are much less effective in the dark, where three-quarters of fatal pedestrian crashes happen.”
Volkswagen’s Taos model was the only vehicle that didn’t see its AEB performance decline in nighttime conditions. The Taos received essentially the same nighttime tests scores compared to daytime evaluations. However, the IIHS noted that the Taos was also the worst performer during the daytime tests.
